Adium users have a fresh new beta for their favorite IM application to download and try out. But first, in order to update, you will need to tick "Update to beta versions when available" under the General tab in the Preference pane. Adium 1.3 Beta 2 brings bug fixes and improvements, along with a host of new features.

Adium 1.3 Beta 2 highlights include: improved creation of new chats via Applescript (#8864); exposed the GetURL command to Applescript (#10006); added Address Book information, when available, to the Info pane of the Contact Inspector; added additional information such as Last Seen to the Info pane of the Contact Inspector.

According to the changelog, Adium is now even more "psychic," adding an option in the advanced Message preferences to open chats as soon as contacts begin typing.

Adium combines an array of instant messaging protocols such as AOL Instant Messenger (including ICQ and .Mac), Jabber (including Google Talk), MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger (including Yahoo! Japan), Bonjour (compatible with iChat), Gadu-Gadu, Novell Groupwise and Lotus Sametime.

The IM client also gives you the possibility to connect with multiple types of accounts at the same time. It combines all your friend groups into one big list. This helps, since you probably don't want to be bothered with stuff like who's MSN and who's AOL, for example.

Adium is easy to use and configure, while the Adium support website can help those who might want to tweak the program directly from its source. Uploading or installing new "custom made" Xtras is also possible and fully supported by the Adium development team.

Last, the IM client also sports a Mac-like appearance, which makes it blend perfectly with your desktop. While its standard appearance is sweet enough, you can customize it to great extent. Go ahead, download Adium and try it out now - both beta version and the latest stable version are available from the same address.